Don't forget to do heavy exercises that work a large group of muscles. Dips, bench press, pull ups, rows, squats; that's what makes you sexy.

Yeah, because everyone knows that squatting is sexy

(I'm doing this to be healthy, not look good, BTW)

I do bench press, pull ups, rows and squats from your list. I'll try throwing dips in too (maybe instead of one of the several auxiliary pectoralis major exercises I ended up doing).

Would be quite surprised if someone told me that a large butt -- as a result of squatting a lot -- would make a guy sexy. For a girl -- maybe, within certain limits

Why wouldn't you want to look good too?

Being healthy is a whole lot more important. Looking good is not very high on my list of priorities.

being healthy makes you look good though. So long as you aren't using idiotic cultural memes to judge what "looking good" means. ie, tanning salons.

Yes, it might be an issue of my diet. I've seen a number of advice that say I should have 5-6 meals a day. Frankly speaking, I don't know how they pull it off. Maybe, they have really small meals which I'm not quite comfortable with. It might be a cultural thing: I was taught having sandwiches and snacking isn't good for your health. I usually have 3 meals a day. 4 max. Is there anybody who manages to have 5-6 meals a day?

I've also seen really detailed instructions on what to eat to gain muscle, lose weight, boost testosterone. And a lot of them are contradictory. For example, one should aim to consume 20% of calories in protein in order to support muscle repair and try to eat as less complex carbs (sugars, starches etc) as possible because they make you gain weight. However, eating a high-protein, low-carbohydrate diet can hamper your testosterone levels, which slows your muscle growth, let alone lowers sexual drive .
Another example is that grapefruit is considered good for loosing weight, however, it also boosts your estrogen level (girls might actually appreciate that), which in turn lowers your testosterone level (bad -- see above). And, I guess, the interesting facts don't end here. So, if anybody could share their diet (down to recipes), tailored for muscle gain and fat loss, I'd appreciate that (mention the original source of the info, please).

As I said, I don't think I eat unhealthy. I eat as much fruits and vegetables as I physically can, having at least two raw vegs a day. Also, lean meats (usually beef or fish) at least once a day, dietary fiber (whole grain bread, brown rice, oatmeal). Almost don't have any alcohol (OJ and green tea are the best, yay!).
It just seems to be too much hassle to sit down and figure out the exact amounts of ingredients to put in each of the six meals such that I get enough nutrients and fit within my energy balance (how the hell do I figure out the latter, too?!). And then spend hours in the kitchen with the scales, precisely measuring the weight each ingredient and trying to make the whole thing even half-tasty.

If you search for info on this kinda stuff you are going to get tonnes of contradictory shit coming up. All of it can actually be correct because each body is different. One person might get huge muscle growth from eating small amounts of protein whereas another person's body requires tonnes of it.

By saying you hit a plateau for (over a month was it?) this indicated one thing to me. More food. Probably more protein. 4-6 meals/day increases your metabolism. It makes your body constantly digest small amounts of manageable food throughout the day. I do this. I eat:

Protein shake (counts as a meal)

I go workout - come back

2 eggs, 2 pieces of hemp toast, water. (maybe shake again)

Go to work

Tuna/chicken sandwich, water, salad. Plus I snack throughout the day on popcorn/rice cake (before lunch time)
Turkey&brown rice&veggie


get home

shake- turkey sandwich

Go to BJJ

come home

shake, baby food, maybe more salad, maybe a steak.


Average work day. On non work days Things get sporadic. I have been cheating more than usual these days, gotta get my diet discipline back.

Got a little boost yesterday... I saw a female acquaintance I hadn't seen for a month, we started talking and one minute into the conversation she suddenly says:
Her: Hey Edison, have you been working out or something? You look a bit more built.
Me: Yep, but I've only been training for two and a half weeks...
Her: Well, keep it up. You look better.
In addition, her compliment was enhanced by the fact she's a 9 out of 10.
I never expected I'd start getting positive feedback so early. It's been less than three weeks and people are beginning to notice the change!

Edison, care to post your exercise routine?

I train three times a week for about 60-80 minutes, including ten minutes' cardio. I mainly do bench presses, biceps and leg curls, pulldowns, leg presses, pushdowns, abdominals, etc. Today it's chest and biceps, so I'll be focusing on bench presses and biceps curls, plus abdominals as always. I don't know the names for all of the exercises I do, but I hope this helps. However, the most important thing to bear in mind is your diet. Eat at least five times a day, and eat healthy.

I'm telling you, it works. Fuck JustJack and his facial surgery, try this shit first. Unless your face is totally fucked, this will work perfectly. You probably are projecting because training builds confidence. Your body probably is not much different at all, but you are projecting how you feel, which is (probably) a little better than if you hadn't been training.

Women, being more empathetic in general than men will pick up on it first, which works out perfectly.

You're probably right. Three weeks is not enough time, but somehow people are noticing some change. It could be I'm projecting more confidence, but I think it's also because I've been eating a lot more lately and, due to my skinniness, any weight increase is easily noticed.

By the way, JJ was crazy. I would only recommend facial surgery in extreme cases. Most girls place much more importance on a good-looking body than on a nice face.

Something to remember about eating habits.

3 balanced meals per day is a good enough eating habit for most people.

If you can, 5 small meals/day is better if you want to improve your fitness and control your weight. One easy way to get there is to simply get your meal and cut it in half. You eat the first part at your regular meal time and the second part about half-way between meal times.

A smaller, yet still important factor to consider. Limit or eliminate your intake of soft drinks, bottled juices, and other drinks that contain a lot of calories. Most of your drinking should be plain water, not bottled (too expensive), not flavored, not "fitness" waters, plain water. You get enough nutrients, electrolytes, vitamins and minerals from your food alone that you don't need to intake high calorie drinks for any good reason.

Protein shake mixes and sport drinks are meant for professional athletes and body-builders. Using those when you're not in a serious exercise or body-building program will eventually make (or keep) you fat. Also, protein shakes will mess up your digestive tract and give you a bad case of gas. Excessive use of sports drinks can give you kidney stones.

Thank you for posting this, alucard.

What do you consider a "serious exercise"?
What is the source of the information?